God’s there, always!

There are several pressures in my life right now, ones I cannot resolve myself; I must wait for others to act first. This, of course, aggravates me, and in this I must confess my unbelief to the Lord. Then I prayed for help–and He gave it.

Last night He give me 2 dreams and a nudge. Both dreams were about messages I’d prepared from the book of James. I can’t remember the details, but God’s message came through clearly: “Trust Me!”

Then, He showed me how He was already helping. At 1:30 AM I woke up and suddenly realized that when I paid my my taxes earlier in the day, I’d used the wrong checkbook and wrote a check that will bounce!

But wait! The night wasn’t over and I could be pretty sure that the check hadn’t yet been processed. So, I got up, logged into my bank account and transferred the money into the correct checking account to cover it.

I found that amazing, that He could bring that realization to me in the middle of the night when I hadn’t been thinking about it at all! Certainly, a clear declaration that He will lead me on the right paths in my other challenges.

Yes, I got the message: “Relax, rest in Jesus, trust Him with all my heart! Praise you, Lord, for your great and gracious faithfulness.” Now I just have to do it!

Picture: listening to God in my dreams.

Some of God’s purposes in allowing suffering and persecution.

It is hard to see people suffer, especially Christians being persecuted for their faith, for doing and being good. But we need to have a higher perspective.

God is like a good coach, he puts his “players” through difficulties so they can win, both on the field and in life.  Those who watch the players suffering while being pushed to their limit, but the players accept this for they have a wider, bigger view; they are willing to suffer because they have their eyes on the goal. Here are God’s goals for his players, and what 3 of His players had to say about it.

Paul in Romans 5:3-5 “… we also GLORY in our sufferings, because we KNOW that suffering produces PERSVERANCE; perseverance,CHARACTER; and character,HOPE. And hope does not put us to shame….” Not many have suffered more than Paul, nor have many earned more rewards.

James in Jame 1:2-4 Consider it PURE JOY, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you KNOW that the testing of your faith produces PERSEVERANCE. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be MATURE AND COMPLETE, not lacking ANYTHING. He was stoned to death.

Jesus in Matthew 5:10-12 “BLESSED are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for THEIRS IS the kingdom of heaven. BLESSED are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. REJOICE AND BE GLAD, because GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN….. No one suffered more than Jesus.

According to the world, this is upside down thinking, but it is actually rightside up, it is God’s thoughts which are higher than ours, as you know. This is where faith comes in: are we going to trust God more than we trust ourselves? Choose obedience or human thinking?

More on this tomorrow.

Picture: Nigerian widows whose husbands were martyrs for Christ

Nurturing our first love for Jesus: remembering what we were and what He’s made us now.

“The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.” Psalm 98:2

What have you saved us from, O Lord? You have delivered us from demonic deceit, from the devil’s dominion of duplicity, from his dirty and damaging control. It is deliverance from darkness, bringing us into the Kingdom of Light.

We were blind, without sight, without knowledge, without understanding; we lived in the night of sin and condemnation, which was

churning,

oppressive,

crushing,

debilitating

and enslaving.

As your Word says, “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness, they do not know what makes them stumble” (Pro. 4:19). And we certainly stumbled–continually falling in every area of our lives, especially in relationships.

When we allowed ourselves to think of the darkness within our souls, it was

overwhelming,

revealing ,

empty hopelessness,

an uncertain future,

a depressing despair,

foundationless floundering

and a bottomless mire into which we were sinking ever more deeply.

But, You, Lord Jesus, burst into our darkness with the Light of your Love, pushing it back, reaching out your hand of healing right down into our souls. You washed the darkness from within, you banished it from without. You set us on the path of the righteous which is “like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever more brightly until the full light of day” (Pro. 4:18).

Your face now continually beams light into our lives, giving depth to our vision. You caused the obstacles of life to stand out clearly before us in this sinful, twisted world, allowing us to walk around them rather than falling over or into them.

No more continual stumbling, as long as we walk into your Light. Help us to do that all day, all the time, our lovely Lord!

In thinking about my first love for Jesus, the sacrifice of thanksgiving came into to better focus.

This truth, this obedience is described in Psalm 50:23, “He who offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me and opens the way that I may show Him the salvation of the Lord.” (NIV)

–This is the practice of thanking God for things we don’t like because we know He has a plan and will use the uncomfortable for good.

–It is the pure exercise of faith, trusting Him more than we trust ourselves.

–It is the demonstration of humility, which is the doorway through which grace flows into our lives. “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

–It is joining God in what He’s doing.

–It is honoring God.

–It is loving God through obedience.

–It is opening the way for Him to bring help, resolution, salvation to our situations

–It is also hard to remember.

Last week I had three frustrating episodes trying to accomplish things on the internet with repeated failures. I got more and more impatient, angry and unhappy because I entirely forgot to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

But when the Holy Spirit reminded me and I prayed, “Lord, forgive me for not thinking your thoughts and offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving for these experiences that you allowed. I repent of this and right now I thank you for each one; I embrace them knowing that you allowed them for a reason. I lay aside my impatience and anger and replace them with faith.” And the irritation and complaining in my heart faded away. That’s what God wants for us, to fill us with all joy and peace, but we must trust in Him for them to come! (Romans 15:13)

I highly recommend offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving!  If you’d like to know more at this wonderful truth/practice, watch this

video on Edifyingservicespublishing.com.

Today I want to share about my anger at God (which was damaging my first love) as I pondered the great suffering of believers worldwide.  And as I struggled with both anger and fear, Job came to  mind. He, too, complained to God about suffering—his own; where he lost everything except his wife.

In the end in Job chapters 38-42 God answered Job’s complaints, not by telling him “why,” but “who.”

God began with, “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.   –“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.

–“On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”

–“Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,

— “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen those of the hail…?”

–“Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs?”

–“Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?”

–“Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high?”

–“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!”

He ends with, “Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?”

So, God’s answer to Job, and to me is—“Trust me, I am all powerful, all knowing, all seeing. I have a great, detailed and good plan and will weave all together, whether pleasant or painful.”

In other places God says, “in allowing suffering for my children I am maturing them, giving them a big role in the plan of the universe, and letting them earn rewards for heaven. Trust me, I know what I am doing.”

Like Job, I must reply, “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer. I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.  You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to  know. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

And so, in the face of this Truth, I choose to repent of my arrogance and my unbelief, my anger and fear–my thinking I know better than God. And this begins another step in restoring my first love for God which will flow from trusting God, who had proved Himself over and over, rather than trusting myself.

I encourage you, too, to read Job chapters 38-42 and refresh your view of God—and of yourself!

Picture, “And God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind Job 38:1